o messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed his message. and allah will protect youfrom the people. (5:67)

ibn katheer commented, "it means: 'convey my message and i will protect you, support you and aid you against your enemies. i will give you victory over them, so do not fear and do not grieve. none of them will be able to harm you.' before the revelation of this verse the prophet peace be upon him used to be guarded [by men]."

abu hurayrah may allah be pleased with him reported that abu jahl said, "will muhammad's peace be upon him face be made dusty by any among you?" someone said, "yes." he said, "by al-laat and al-`uzza,[1]if i see him [prostrating], i will step on his neck and rub his face in the dust." but when the prophet peace be upon him came to pray, and he approached to do as he had said, they only saw him retreating and shielding himself with his hands. they asked him "what happened to you?" he said, "between me and him was a pit of fire, something terrible and wings!" the messenger of allah peace be upon him said,"if he had come closer to me the angels would have plucked off his limbs one by one." (muslim)

and ibn `abbas may allah be pleased with him reported that abu jahl had said, "if i see muhammad peace be upon him praying at the ka`bah, i will step on his neck." when the prophet peace be upon him heard about it he peace be upon him said,

"if he had done so the angels would have seized him."(al-bukhari)

jabir ibn`abdullah  reported that the messenger of allah peace be upon him was at war when an opening was seen in muslim ranks. a man called ghawrath ibn al-harith approached until he stood over the messenger of allah peace be upon him and said, "who can save you from me?" the prophet peace be upon him said, "allah." the sword fell from his hand and the prophet peace be upon him took hold of it and said, "who can save you from me?" he said, "be the best taker [of ransom]." the prophet peace be upon him said,

"i bear witness that there is no god except allah and that i am the messenger of allah." he replied, "no, but i promise you i will not fight you, nor will i be allied with any people who fights you." so he let him go, and upon his return he said, "i have come back to you from the best of people." (al-hakim, who graded it as saheeh)

anas may allah be pleased with him reported that there was a christian man who entered islam and used to recite surahs al-baqarah and aali `imraan and write for the prophet peace be upon him. then he reverted to christianity and said, "muhammad does not know except what i write for him." so almighty allah caused him to die and they buried him. but by morning the earth had cast him out. they said, "this was done by muhammad and his companions; because he left them they dug him up and pulled him out." then they dug him another grave, making it deeper, but by morning the earth had cast him out. they said, "this was done by muhammad peace be upon him and his companions; because he left them they dug him up and pulled him out." then they dug him another grave, making it as deep as they could. but by morning the earth had cast him out. they then knew that it had not been done by human beings, so they left him. (al-bukhari)

in addition, almighty allah protected his prophet peace be upon him when he peace be upon him saved him from an assassination attempt that the quraysh were plotting at night. they had agreed that a strong young man be chosen from each tribe, each with a sharp sword, and that they would strike the messenger all peace be upon him together. thus, his blood would be on the hands of all the tribes and his clan would not be able to fight all of the arabs. but jibreel peace be upon him came to the messenger of allah peace be upon him and informed him of the plan of the polytheists, told him not to sleep in his bed that night, and that almighty allah had given him permission to emigrate.

and almighty allah protected his prophet peace be upon him from suraqah ibnmalikmay allah be pleased with him while on his hijrah journey. and he protected him in the cave, when abu bakrmay allah be pleased with him said to him, "o messenger of allah, if one of them should look down toward his feet he would see us." but he peace be upon him replied,

"abu bakr may allah be pleased with him , what do you think about two of whom allah is the third?" (al-bukhari)

ibn katheer said, " almighty allah protected his messenger peace be upon him from the people of makkah: the influential and affluent who envied him and arrogantly opposed him with the greatest animosity and hatred, were at war with him day and night. he was protected by means that almighty allah created out of his great power and wisdom. he protected him at the beginning of his mission through his uncle, abu talib, who was a prominent and influential leader among the quraysh and in whose heart almighty allah created a natural love for the messenger of allah peace be upon him. if he had accepted islam the disbelievers would have become emboldened against him, but because he remained one of them, they esteemed and respected him.

after the death of abu talib, the prophet peace be upon him suffered abuse briefly, but then almighty allah sent him the ansar, who embraced islam, pledged allegiance and invited him to their homeland, which was madinah. and when he peace be upon him arrived there, they protected him against every enemy. whenever any of the polytheists, jews or christians intended to harm him, almighty allah planned on his behalf and thwarted their plots.